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Comparative Japanese Myth Essays
Comparative Japanese Myth Essays
Comparative Japanese Myth Essays
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Myths and Legends of Japan
Japan has many myths believed to be true by the Japanese culture. Such as: "You can tell a person's character from their blood type". The Japanese creation myth starts off with brother and sister gods Izanagi and Izanani. They dipped a spear into the churning sea and when they pulled it out the drops that fell on the water surface became the islands of Japan. Next the sun goddess Amaterasu, was created and was soon sent to heaven to rule over the world. She some time ago left the universe in darkness and chaos. Amaterasu sent her grandson to calm Japan, giving him the sacred mirror, sword, and jewel, which became imperial motifs.
In Japanese mythology there are a lot of things that can make up a myth. Japanese myths frequently include serpents in them. There are tales of woman turning into snakes. Not all myths are about snakes. But most of the time when people think about Japanese mythology, they might think of snakes because they are so closely connected with the Japanese myths ordinarily. There are two different types of snake women; ones that are evil are ones that are good. One closely related story to the snake woman is that there is a palace under the sea at the very depth:
“ A snake woman lives there who is believed to be the daughter of the sea god. Any man who goes down and meets her there she marries and she takes good care of them. When the man has to return to his world she gives him special powers or wealth. There is a story of a snake woman that every Japanese school child knows. It starts with a young boy fishing one night and catches a multicolored turtle and he brings it home. The next morning he wakes up, not to see the turtle but a beautiful woman in place of it. He is then asked by the snake woman to come down to the sea and live with him. He lives with her for three years and he gets homesick so he asks the snake woman if he can return home. She says yes and gives him a box and she says if you want to come back down and live with me again then you cannot open the box. The turtle then guides him back to his village.
Much of what is considered modern Japan has been fundamentally shaped by its involvement in various wars throughout history. In particular, the events of World War II led to radical changes in Japanese society, both politically and socially. While much focus has been placed on the broad, overarching impacts of war on Japan, it is through careful inspection of literature and art that we can understand war’s impact on the lives of everyday people. The Go Masters, the first collaborative film between China and Japan post-WWII, and “Turtleback Tombs,” a short story by Okinawan author Oshiro Tatsuhiro, both give insight to how war can fundamentally change how a place is perceived, on both an abstract and concrete level.
-Nara’s Buddhist temples were another result of cultural diffusion, Buddhist began in India in 500s B.C.E. about 1,000 years later, it came to Japan from China by way of Korea.
In April, 1549, Xavier, Saint Francis left the Indo-Portuguese capital of Malacca on his first voyage to Japan. The Voyage went relatively fast and he arrived at the Kagoshima harbor, on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Assumption. Xavier stepped off unto the shores of what he thought to be the Promised Land. Xavier landed with high hopes, nor were his expectations disappointed. Xavier, describe the people of Japan has having good manners, not malicious and men of honor. He also stated that they have one quality in which he cannot recall seeing in Christians; that is however poor their gentry might be they and the commoners however rich, give as much respect to a poor man in passing as if he were a rich person. He noticed the Japanese to be very courteous in their dealings with one another; they highly regard arms by carrying a sword and dirk from the age of fourteen onwards.
There are several deities that appear in several stories, all having their own special and significant role. The Shinto creation story tells of two main deities, Izanagi and Izanami. As Izanagi and Izanami stood on the floating bridge of heaven, they thrusted a jeweled spear into the ocean. As the spear touched the water, it created an island called Onogoro, which was the mainland of Japan. Izanagi and Izan...
Two closely related creation myths come from the Chinese and Japanese. Their geographical ties and trading patterns forged a link. Both share the symbolism of the egg as part an old creation myth. In the Japanese version of the myth, the two gods that were first formed, made love to each other many times and each time a new god of something was born, such as islands, wind and fire. Izam, the female finally died and the creation of other gods was put to a halt. The pattern used here was from nothing to everything, and from the birth of gods to the halt of the creation, when Izam dies.
Most American citizens remember December 7, 1941 and the significance that the incidents of that day had. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a shock to the United States of America and it engaged our country in the Second World War of that century (Pearl, 2009). Unfortunately, due to that incident, many Americans harbor many negative feelings and attitudes towards the country of Japan. While this is an understandable sentiment, it is unnecessary, because Japan is an influence on not on the United States but the entire world. Throughout this paper, we will look at the country of Japan as many have never viewed them before. Their actions of the past are just that, the past. Japan is a thriving and successful country within our environment and it is in our best interest to understand that country better. Japan, as a culture, is the
Throughout several myths, monsters are described as many diverse creatures. At first glance, they all seem very distinctive. However, each monster is like a combination of several qualities and characteristics that are matched in different ways to form the monsters that appear in myths such as Hercules, Bellerophon, and Perseus. All monsters have very distinct looks that make them inferior to humans. Generally, they are a mixture of two or more different animals such as snakes, lions, or humans and they may have multiple heads. For example, Cerberus was a horrific three-headed dog that had the tail of a dragon and his back was covered with snakes. Several monsters have some part of them from a snake. Snakes symbolize an evil quality and that is why many monsters are forms of them. Cerberus had his whole back covered in snakes and a dragon tail. Both of these are snake-like parts that contribute to Cerberus looking terrifying. His tail is from a dragon which is very similar to a snake and his back is filled with snakes like fur. The Hydra of Lerna is also an im...
The importance of the oral tradition in the growth of a community is the culture of native Hawaiians is manifested in many facts of a daily life. One of the most important for any culture is language. The Commission was very fortunate to have an expert on the Hawaiian language. Another discussion about the Hawaiian culture is the different context in historic
A nation’s decision to go to war is not one that can be taken lightly. War requires a great deal of sacrifice and more often than not, results in a great deal of pain for an entire nation. For some, the humiliation of defeat may be worse than any physical pain one car endured. As Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War by Akira Iriye shows, Japanese leaders decided that war with the USA was in the best interest of their nation, knowing full well the cost of war. The Japanese leaders` anxiety over the self preservation and self defence of their nation, their anxiety over perceived hostile attitudes from the west, and the importance of making a timely decision on war led them on a path that resulted in war with the USA.
Shinto defined the Japanese’ lifestyle, however, there is no authoritative text of what or why exactly Shinto is around. Until Buddhism, and Confucianism showed up, Shintoism was not a concrete unified religion. In 8AD, it was ordered to compile a history of Japan’s origins, and creation stories were thus born, called the Kojiki. The creation story starts with the formation of Heaven, called Takamagahara, which would give rise to the first three gods, Amenominakanushi, Takagi no kami, and kamimusubi, all of whom were invisible. Reed shoots sprouted, and just like the previous three deities, two more came into existence, and soon after, even more, who would be Izanagi and Izanami who would give birth to Japan, both figuratively and literally. The creation myth would even go on to explain how the male is to initiate procreation, the death-to-birth ratio, and how the Japanese, at one point, believed that their emperor was a direct descendant of the kami.
from the famous "The Great Wave off of Kanagawa" picture, all the to manga and anime,
...the myth-themes of Japan I realized how stories could erase boundaries and unlock cultural understandings. A person could never step foot on the island of Japan, but could get a glimpse of the truths of it’s people through reading. The origin of our universe and humanities place on it is inherent in mythology, and the text on a page or computer screen can serve as a new pair of eyes. Vision is not confined to the eyes because it can be expressed through various forms, and I have come to believe that writing uncovers and shapes the truths of the universe even if it does not make sense scientifically. The combination of Shinto and Buddhist faiths form the mythology of Japan in a spiritual manifestation. The tales of the Gods, deities, kami’s, and origins of the universe as we know it can be organized in the thresholds to show Japans unique version of history or myth.
There are many Myths and legends in the world and some are more common than others. Different people believe in different myths and legends. They are different myths and legends that correspond with different religions and countries. Myths can be a long story or a short story, some myths can be more interesting than others.
The Japanese were strongly influenced by a belief in ghosts, demons and supernatural spirits. The roots of Japanese mythology come from their Shinto Religion, in Taoism and in Zen Buddhism. The main religion in Japan is Shinto, and the Shinto religion’s gods and spirits make up most of Japanese myt...
Sonzai is constructed from 2 words; son and zai. Son means subjective self-subsistence or sustain over time. Zai means that the subject stays in the same places in which the word “places” refers to social places which consist of human relations, such as home, hotel, inn, etc. By putting these two words together, we get sonzai (human existence) which literally means self-sustenance of human relations. Although sonzai looks similar to ningen, they are quite different. Ningen refers to capability of being an individual and at the same time also being a member of a society. To sum up, ningen is mostly explaining about a person as an individual. Sonzai emphasizes the dynamic structure of human being, such as human relations which concerns about the relationship between one individual to others. However, sonzai can be said as the interconnection of the acts of ningen as sonzai describes what a person (ningen) does to others. According to Watsuji Tetsuo, we can combine both ningen and sonzai becomes “ningen sonzai” which refers to the subject, who is at once individual and social, and to society, who are at once singular and composite (Kalmanson, 2010).